Repair wood siding rot?

I am preparing to repaint a 600 sq ft cottage with old wood siding (horizontal boards). Scraping off peeling paint revealed a number of areas where the siding is rotted. In one case, the rot extends 3 feet wide and one to two inches tall. In some cases, it goes right through the wall. I had someone dig out all the rot and start filling in with bondo with hardener. He used one can and estimates that it will take 2 more to finish things. This is certainly the easiest way for me to do this rather than try to cut out and replace the boards. But is this OK? I am not planning to replace all the siding with Hardiboard and have put in alot of time in prep already. Will filling in buy me a few years? I live in the Pacific Northwest- no snow but lots of rain. There is also rot between some of the boards. Thanks for your advice! I really dont know what to do.

 

Welcome to the forums! I use the minwax wood filler with the catalyst, on small repairs with great success. However, what you are describing is a little more than it would be able to adequately cover and remain looking good. From your description, a replacement of the lower portion of the siding would be in order, but it may not look as good as installing Hardie trim along the bottom of the siding. It will dress it up a little and hide the damaged siding. Just make sure you have the moisture problem taken care of first.

 

I agree with Chandler, bondo works well on small areas, but the size of your rot area warrants replacement. and The key to any successful home improvement is solving the source of the moisture problem before attempting the repair.

 

Thanks for your responses, but I am a little unclear about exactly what you mean. Should I cut out and replace the boards that are most rotten? Or are you saying I should tear out all the siding and completely redo it? Also, I have another question in case I continue with the patching rather than replacing. I already applied the first amount of bondo to the boards, after carving out the rotten part. It was clear that it would take one or more applications to completely fill the space. It has been unseasonably warm here, but suddenly this evening out a nowhere, a big storm arrived and it is pouring. So Im concerned about getting water into the wood. Ill let it dry out well, and maybe even use my hairdryer on it before applying more but is there anything else I should do? Thanks again, so much guys, for your help. Marilyn

 

Have you considered what I suggested by installing a trim band at the bottom, covering up the damaged wood after you do away with the cause of the water? You can probably apply the trim directly over the bottom boards. But cutting out the offending boards would be the next best option. Of course tearing off all the siding would not be very productive. You can post a couple of pictures of the damaged area on a site such as photobucket.com and give us the urls. That way we can see what you see.

 

Wow, I cant believe I actually figured out how to do what you suggested- get and post pictures of the siding in question on photobucket, but I did, and here they are! The areas have been either partially or completely filled in with Bondo, depending upon their size. I would be so grateful if you could look at the them and give me your opinion once you see the situation. Here is the link: http://s278.photobucket.com/albums/k...rilynSterling/

 

OK, I was under the impression you had damage at the bottom of the siding and was attempting to repair that area. Doing the trim board would have solved that problem, but what you have it a far cry from a small amount of rot. Do you plan on profiling the areas you have the bondo on? I mean most of the damage is where the clapboard is indented, so do you have plans on sanding it to match the other boards? If these locations are the only sides where damage is evident, and no more area than there is, you could probably pull off all the siding and replace it and have it looking spiffy.

 

I've been wondering if you've addredded the source of the rot. It could be fungal from too much moisture as I've had. It's good to see you have gutters. Do you know how log they have been on the house and if there is a leak near where the rot was?